Canada seeks more energy exports to India, less dependence on US

Canada's search for alternative destinations, including India, China and Japan, for its trove of hydrocarbon resources coincides with India seeking stable supplies of oil and gas to augment its own, relatively limited, energy resources, which currently satisfy less than a quarter of its requirement.

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By SAURABH CHATURVIDI

NEW DELHI -- Canada is focusing its attention
on India and other Asian countries as it seeks to reduce its
dependence on the US for exports of hydrocarbons, according to
the country's Minister of Natural Resources Joe Oliver.

The US is rapidly decreasing its reliance on
energy imports - including from its No. 1 supplier, Canada -
due to a production boom from unconventional sources owing to
advances in gas and oil extraction from shale.

Canada's search for alternative destinations,
including India, China and Japan, for its trove of hydrocarbon resources coincides with
India seeking stable supplies of oil and gas to augment its
own, relatively limited, energy resources, which currently
satisfy less than a quarter of its requirement.

"It is never smart to have one customer," Mr.
Oliver said in an interview here. "The US is going to need less
of our energy and they are also paying us at significant
discount to international prices."

India is particularly concerned
about securing supplies of natural gas given rapidly dwindling
production at its main gas fields that is forcing it to
increasingly rely on expensive imports.

Liquefied natural gas imports from Canada
would help India to diversify its energy supply beyond its
traditional partners.

India has been making efforts to
increase supplies of crude oil and LNG from Qatar, Kuwait and
Iraq to compensate for reduced imports from Iran in the face of
sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic's trading partners by
the US and the European Union.

Canada exports 1.4 billion Canadian dollars of
energy products to India a year, accounting for more than half
of its total exports to the country. The two countries are
working out plans to triple their overall annual trade to C$15
billion by 2015. Mr. Oliver said Canada plans to triple its
energy exports to India in the coming years, but he didn't
specify a time frame.

Canada, like the US, has a glut of natural gas
from shale, with pipelines to the US currently being its main
export outlet. However, plans are in the works to build up its
LNG infrastructure to rapidly increase its ability to export
gas to destinations including India, Mr. Oliver said.

Mr. Oliver, who is in India to meet with local
industry representatives and promote investments in his
country, said he welcomes Indian companies interested in
acquiring energy assets and entering into long-term business
partnerships in Canada - especially in the energy sector.

Mr. Oliver said that although China is taking
the lead in buying out energy assets worldwide, including in
Canada, "there is enough room for Indian companies."

A consortium of Indian state-run companies has
bid to acquire stakes in oil-sands assets owned by
ConocoPhillips in Canada that are valued around $5 billion,
senior executives at Oil & Natural Gas and Oil India said on Sept. 25.

Mr. Oliver said that over the next decade,
Canada expects as many as 600 projects valued at more than C$650
billion in the resources sector to start production.

Dow Jones Newswires

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